Apr. 30, 2010

"Call of Duty 2" is rated M, for mature.
(Splash News)

Written by

The Courier-Journal

If 12-year-old Johnny wants to walk into his nearest GameStop and pick up a copy of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," should anyone stop him?

California says yes. And I agree.

Excessively violent video games like the COD series (yes, I've played them) aren't any different from R- and NC-17-rated movies. Exhibitors and retailers can, and should, restrict minors from attending these films at theaters or renting or buying them.

Minors can see R-rated films when accompanied by adult. The tiny number of NC-17 movies is entirely off limits. "Patently Adult," the Classification & Rating Administration calls them. Nobody seems to object.

In other words, we think it's OK to set certain limits when it comes to movies. For some reason, video games don't get quite the same respect. That puzzles me, because the interactive nature of gaming, to my mind, makes them more invasive.

This isn't the place to resurrect the debate over whether video games turn kids' brains to mush, or render them psychopaths-in-training. The issue is whether a state can mandate that retailers adopt certain curbs on what they sell to minors. These curbs don't strike me as arbitrary or capricious. They seem quite reasonable and appropriate.

It might help to remember that the gaming industry already has its own ratings system. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board boasts no fewer than six categories, ranging from titles deemed fit for "Early Childhood" to "Adults Only."

Games that include "intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language" are rated "M" (for "Mature"). Pile on "prolonged" violence and/or "graphic sexual content and nudity," and you get a label of "Adults Only."

None of this necessarily keeps determined kids from playing these games. My own 10-year-old son begged me to buy him a copy of "COD: MW2" for his Playstation 3, arguing that "all my friends have it" (or words to that effect) when Dad said, "No."

Dad wasn't swayed by the "all my friends" argument. If he lived on the West Coast and had less parental resolve, he could always substitute the phrase "blame California."

By Jeffrey Lee Puckett
Who was a mere lad when the term "First Person Shooter" came into being

NO.

So these people want a law that makes it illegal for a minor to buy an excessively violent video game, on the assumption that the kid will then want to kill someone, and they've persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to make a ruling?

Let's say the law is passed. Then, of course, someone would have to decide how violent is too violent, based on criteria yet to be determined but almost certain to be subjective. And some constitutional rights regarding free speech would have to waived. No big whoop.

This would be among the most pointless legislation in history and a gross misappropriation of the Supreme Court's time.

The gaming industry already has a voluntary ratings system, and every platform comes with the option of restricting which games can be played. Say you're a parent who doesn't want your child slaughtering zombies with a chain saw. Go into the security settings, ban the playing of games rated "M" for mature and rest assured that your child will never grow up to kill zombies.

Then again, maybe you decide to kill zombies with your child. It's up to you. That's called parenting, and do you want a senator from California doing your parenting for you, or a clerk at GameStop? Has your life really gone that wrong?

One more thing:

I've probably killed 50,000 or 60,000 Nazis in a variety of ways while playing "Call of Duty," but mostly with a bullet in the head. I've also slammed a large door into Theseus' skull until it shattered, the preferred method for offing mythological Greek heroes in "God of War II." And let's not even get into the number of people I've run over in "Grand Theft Auto," but the hookers alone must number into the hundreds.

I've not done any of that in real life, or almost any. Dumb law, stupid senator. Where's my chainsaw?